FOUR full-scale replica Nieuport 17s built for a new movie about flying during WWI have gone on sale in the US for $25,000 each.

The aircraft were built by replica specialist Robert Baslee of Missouri- based Airdome Aeroplanes in just 52 days. They have an ‘Experimental’ certification and are powered by a 100hp Torquemaster engine, with a Vne of 90mph and a stall speed of 40mph.

The aircraft are for sale with WAR Aircraft Replicas of Brandon, Florida, w: www.waraircraftreplicas.com The new movie, ‘Flyboys’, directed by Californian Oscar winner and pilot Tony Bill, is based on the true story of 0 Americans who volunteered to fight for France before the United State entered WWI, the ‘Lafayette Escadrille’. None had ever fl own before, don’t speak French and quickly realise their life expectancy is between two to eight weeks.

The movie stars Jean Reno as the French commander and James Franco as one of the Americans – he’d never fl own before the film but enjoyed the experience so much that he trained for his PPL afterwards. Much of the film was shot in England last summer, with UK display pilot Nigel Lamb (see Red Bull pull-out) involved in the aerial stunts.

The dogfight sequences are claimed to be some of the best ever shot, with as little use of computer- generated imagery as possible. “This has real pilots in real planes dogfighting within a few hundred feet of each other,” said director Tony Bill. “Just the way they did it in WWI.” ‘Flyboys’ is expected to go on release in the US later this year and in the UK early in 2006.